University of Colorado junior Emma Coburn competes during the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, June 9, 2011. Coburn advanced to Saturday's final by winning her heat in 10:00.43.

DES MOINES, Iowa — University of Colorado steeplechasers Emma Coburn and Shalaya Kipp easily advanced to Saturday’s 3,000-meter steeplechase final in yesterday’s qualifying rounds at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Coburn, who has the nation’s No. 1 collegiate time in 9:40.51 (a time that earlier tops in the world this season), won the second qualifying heat in 10 minutes, 0.43 seconds after leading most of the race. Kipp, a sophomore, finished in 10:02.09 in the first heat. Both are seeded second and third behind Virginia senior Stephanie Garcia.

“We’ve never raced head-to-head,” Coburn, a junior, said of Garcia. “I have my eye on her, but there are girls who can run low 9:50s and I need to be ready.”